Kate's POV: Thursday October 3rd
I can't believe how well tutoring had gone. I mean, Brooke was a tad… abrasive, but she still did her best to help me understand these concepts. I would should make some flashcards or something later, that way I could study better for my test next week.
I was currently making my way back across the quad when I noticed Max and Chloe standing by Chloe's truck, which was parked in front of the school. That's odd, I thought they were going to eat? Max looked up and gave me a warm smile, waving me over. I strolled down the front steps and approached my two friends.
"Hi Max, Chloe." I greeted.
"Hi Kate, how's it going?" Max asked me kindly.
I shrugged. "Okay I suppose, I just got out of chemistry tutoring."
Max nodded. "Oh yeah, Chloe mentioned you were doing some sort of study session."
"Oh yes, I told her earlier when she asked me to come join you two to eat, speaking of which, how come you're still here?"
This time Chloe spoke up, stepping forward. "Well I decided eating without you would be pretty lame, sooo we just waited for you to finish your thing."
"Aw, you didn't have to do that." I felt a little guilty that I had my friends postpone their plans for an hour. Max seemed to pick up on this and put a hand on my shoulder.
"It's not a big deal Kate, we don't mind waiting for you." Her smile quelled my guilt and I gave a small smile of my own in return.
"If you say so."
"Oh, um so how was your tutoring?" Max asked.
"It was fine, Brooke really helped me understand things better, she really likes explaining stuff in detail."
Max cocked an eyebrow. "Brooke, Brooke Scott?"
"Yeah, Brooke." Chloe confirmed, making a face.
Max jabbed the bluenette with her elbow. "Don't be like that Chloe, Brooke's just a little brusque, she's not that bad."
"Whatever, I still don't like her." Chloe huffed. There was something more to this, and I decided to press on it.
"Did something happen with her that made you not like her?" Both Chloe and Max looked away, with the freckled brunette clutching her left shoulder.
"Well, a few weeks ago or something I got into a conversation with Brooke, and Chloe didn't take too kindly to the things she had to say about me."
"That's nice and vague Max." Chloe snorted.
"What exactly did she say about you?" I pressed further. At this point Max had shrunken back and I thought maybe I had stepped too far, but Chloe decided to answer for me.
"So, Max decided to have a talk with Brooke, because she's nice and likes making friends with people, but Salt Queen was having none of it. All Max did was ask about her drone, but apparently she said the wrong things because Brooke got all upset and called Max an uncultured moron and yelled at her to leave."
"I heard the whole thing and decided to swoop Max away and gave Brooke one of my trademark glares, I kinda wanted to punch her or something, but that was a whole can of worms I didn't want to open right then and there." Chloe leaned back and sighed, apparently finishing her story.
I was shocked. Had Brooke really insulted Max like that when the other girl was just trying to be friendly?
"Well it didn't happen quite like that, I made a comment about drones being weapons and Brooke said I wasn't as smart as Warren said I was." Max clarified for me.
"Warren?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's a science nerd type who's a friend of mine." She smiled. I simply nodded, it made sense that Chloe would blow up at the subtle insult and that Max didn't seem to care about it. I wish I could brush off stuff like that…
"Ok, enough about all of that crap, let's say we all get some grub at the Two Whales?" Chloe announced, scooping up Max and I into a huddle.
"Sounds awesome, what about you Kate?" Max questioned, turning to me.
Well getting away from campus for a bit sounds nice.
"Alright sounds fun."
Brooke's POV: Friday October 4th
Stupid Warren.
Stupid Fucking Max.
Fuck the both of them.
My hands were clutched threateningly tight around my tablet and I had to take a deep breath so I wouldn't snap the thing in half. Today I was supposed to go to the drive in with Warren. We were going to chill out in his old car, watch some classic Planet of the Apes movies, and maybe kiss or something.
But no.
Max fucking Caulfield had stolen Warren away, because of course she did. I really thought I was going to have a chance, but now I'll never know. I remember how infuriated I was earlier. I never would've guessed how this would've gone when I received that text from Warren.
'Hey sorry Brooke I have to cancel our movie date tonight, something came up that I need to take care of'
I was a little peeved, but I told him it was fine, things came up, I mean we could probably catch a movie or something later. So, I decided to fly my drone around campus, watching all the students mill around the fountain or chat to their friends about some irrelevant school thing.
Then I saw Max.
The hipster was making her way to the parking lot adjacent to the school, so I decided to follow her with my drone. She made an immediate beeline to Warren's old car. Why was she going to Warren's car, didn't he say he was busy?
Then to my dismay Warren stepped out of his car and shyly wrapped Max in a hug.
What.
The.
Fuck.
I remember seething with rage as Warren walked Max to the passenger seat and the two slowly backed out of the parking lot and drove away.
Warren didn't have something come up, he just broke it off with me so he could take Max to the movies instead.
I remember furiously texting and calling Warren, practically screaming at him to explain himself.
But he never answered.
And so here I was, miserably patrolling the quad with my drone, trying not to get too worked up about being kicked to the curb and be replaced with Max.
Stupid.
Fucking.
Max.
"Brooke?" An innocent question shook me from my rage. Looking up I saw that Kate was now standing in front of me, giving me a concerned stare.
Ah of course, come to prey on the emotionally distraught person so you can whisk them away to church, I get it.
"Are you okay?" She asked, this time with more devotion.
"Yeah, just fine, can't you tell?" I counter questioned, my voice laced with bitterness.
"Are you sure, you look pretty… upset about something." Man, she was not going to drop this was she? Fine.
"Today Warren and I were supposed to go to the drive in, but he cancelled because he said something came up. Apparently, that 'something' was dropping me so he could go take Max instead."
"Oh, Brooke that's terrible, I'm sorry." She sympathized, with that genuine kindness I hated.
"Don't be, nothing you can do about it." Kate seemed to dwell on this for a moment, before she adjusted herself and spoke up again.
"Well maybe we could do something?"
Was she serious? "Look Kate, I tutored you for a class, you don't have to pretend like we're friends or anything." I expected Kate to back down, but instead she simply shook her head and continued.
"It has nothing to do with that, it's just what happened to you was… unfortunate, and I figured it'd be nice if you could still enjoy your evening with someone." Well, that was unexpected, but still, regardless of her intent, I just didn't feel up to spending an evening with someone I barely knew.
"Um thanks, but I just kind of want to spend tonight alone." At this Kate backed away and nodded in understanding.
"I get that, sometimes it's nice to just be by yourself for a while." Kate now was looking off to the side, as if she was staring at something I couldn't quite see. After a minute of silence, she dug into her pocket and scribbled something on a rough looking notecard.
"Here," she said handing me the paper, "It's my phone number, just give me a call if you change your mind." Wait, she was giving me her phone number? There were plenty of weird things about this, but then again, I guess it was mostly so she could ask me chemistry questions without having to track me down in person. I awkwardly accepted the number and shoved it in my pocket.
"I'll see you around Brooke, have fun flying your drone." Kate politely waved goodbye while I quickly swerved my drone away from the wall it was rapidly approaching.
I cursed under my breath. Come on Brooke, pay attention. I decided to land the it before I ended up hitting something else accidently. I didn't want to add a broken piece of tech to my list of things to be mad about.
Although, for some weird reason, I didn't feel quite as upset anymore.
How odd.
Kate's POV: Friday October 4th
I hastily barged into my dorm and slammed the door behind me.
What just happened?
I had seen Brooke outside flying her drone, looking simultaneously angry and depressed. I had tried to help her out, but then I decided to ask her to spend time with me and gave her my phone number.
Why did I do that?
I mean it wasn't out of line or anything, but it wasn't something I usually did. Well, I always tried to be kind towards others, but giving out my number and inviting them out was not one of the things I did to comfort people usually.
I mean Brooke looked like she could use a friend, so it wasn't that strange I suppose. But something about it made me feel weird. Something about Brooke…
No.
Whatever that train of thought was, I did not want to pursue it any further. I pulled back my desk chair and took a seat with a groan. Calm down Kate, nothing to get anxious about, you just gave her your phone number in case she needed you for something. As if by some coincidence my phone buzzed with a new text message.
It was from Mom.
I really didn't want to read it, Mom had been contacting me nonstop recently about school. How I was doing, what grades I was getting, and how I was sinning and disgracing my religion. I knew why she was doing this, but I didn't want to say anything that could possibly encourage her to take me out of school. I knew my Mom, and she was stubborn as a mule and didn't back down for anything.
I sighed and decided to ignore her message for now, I could deal with it later. Currently, I needed to get my mind off of things. I unzipped my bag and took out my sketchbook. Some drawing would help distract me, it was always a great escape from life's issues, just letting me express myself and do whatever I wanted.
I decided to do a landscape drawing this time. Usually I drew little doodles or cartoons, but this time I wanted to try something different. I could draw a setting first and then add characters to it later. It would be a fun change of pace.
As I began drawing my phone buzzed a second time, I was afraid it was my mom again, but to my surprise it was from an unrecognized number.
[Unknown Number: Hey this is Brooke, thanks for earlier]
Oh, it was Brooke, was she going to take me up on my offer?
[Kate: No problem Brooke, did you want to do something?]
[Brooke: No, I'm good]
I was about to respond, but it showed that Brooke was still typing something.
[Brooke: Maybe some other time tho]
[Kate: Sure Brooke whenever you want]
There was no reply after that so I returned to my drawing. For some reason, my heart was beating faster, I really didn't know why. Taking a deep breath, I continued sketching.
Just keep drawing Kate.
Just keep drawing.
